


First Day of Spring

by taviceline



Category: DC Animated Universe, DCU (Comics)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 07:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10531842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taviceline/pseuds/taviceline
Summary: This was a not-so-happy birthday present for Dick Grayson's birthday this year. It's just being posted very, very late.





	

Dick scoffed, his obvious skepticism echoing in Titans Tower. The oddly newly formed Titans had their first official mission that didn’t completely deal with the end of the world. It was the sort of set up-take down missions they used to do all the time before they split.  


“Yeah, being in a casino with Roulette was super fun.”

“The spy-like part was super fun,” Donna corrected. “And we’re done so it was all worth it. Dick, where are you headed to? It’s early. Traffic in Manhattan is hell.”

Dick already wore his motorcycle helmet and he quite literally was half out the door. He gave her a quick smile. “I like the noise. Call if you guys need me. I’ll be in Gotham.”

Donna didn’t even get a chance to ask what was wrong before he rushed out. She knew if she never asked, there was a high possibility that he’d never tell. Dick also knew which was why he left so quick. He didn’t want to talk. Not then.

Dick moved as quick as he could to the hangar, busying himself with reading notifications. Most were text messages from his group chat with the other Bats. The others were calendar events or news reports. One event stood out: the first day of spring. 

In front of his motorcycle, he stopped and leaned on the wall to look at  his screen. There it was: March 20. The first day robins came out. He pushed away the sound of his mother’s voice calling him her little robin. He could deal with that later; the most pressing issue was a necessary visit. 

It was a tradition that he kept up, even when he was adopted by Bruce. On the first day of spring, he would go to visit his parents. The only time he missed it was during his tenure at Spyral. He was not about to miss it this year. 

Dick wanted to put his phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ but he knew he couldn’t. In that line of business, putting your phone on silent was potentially a death sentence. For you or for someone close to you. 

_And someone always dies. Every damn time._ As much as Dick tried not to, that was all he could think about. It didn’t help that he watched as billboards advertising Gotham were projected and switched to Blüdhaven. 

Sometimes, he couldn’t help but think about the dark sides of his job. That’s all it was most of the time. Other people’s troubles and aches and deaths. God, the deaths. 

Dick passed the entrance sign to Gotham and felt an immediate shift. It was normal but it freaked him out sometimes. You knew when you were in Gotham, even in broad daylight. If you did routine patrols in Gotham, the shift when driving to Gotham was different. 

It’s just a heavy, eternal weight that crushes you. The weight of the anger, the corruption. And yeah, the deaths. Dick knew how easy it was to get lost in it. For all he knew, maybe he already was. He was just deluding himself into thinking otherwise. 

Dick parked once he reached his apartment in Blüdhaven. He didn’t need it to get to his destination. The hustle and bustle of Blüdhaven was lost on him any day but it was worse now. It wasn’t uncommon for him to feel isolated from everything around him. 

In fact, it happened more often than he cared to admit. He could walk through the entire city of Blüdhaven and unless the sky was shitting aliens, he’d never know anyone was around him. That was a benefit of being Nightwing. The danger. Strangely, it kept him from getting lost inside himself and feeling out of touch with the people around him. 

He’d almost missed the street vendor selling flowers. Dick purchased two bouquets of wildflowers without another word. He didn’t want to get distracted by lousy small talk. Not today. 

As Dick walked through a quieter area on the edge of Gotham, he had to stand off at the entrance to the cemetery. He stood in that exact spot as his friends and adoptive family lowered “him” into the ground. Dick couldn’t exactly walk up to them and explain why he faked his death. So he watched them mourn. 

He walked into the cemetery, feeling no shift or imbalance. He’d been in cemeteries far too often for them to have any effect anymore. There’d been too many funerals, too many times of mourning. He couldn’t blame Jason for going his way. Hell, Dick thought about it plenty of times. 

Passing by Jason’s grave and then his, he stopped in-between the next one. _John and Mary Grayson. Loving parents. Beautiful performers. Gone too soon. Never forgotten._

Dick’s breath hitched as he stopped himself from shedding a tear. Dammit, he did this every year on the first of spring. And every single time, he had to try not to cry. 

“Hi, Mom. Hey, Dad.” He knelt down to set the flowers. “I turn 26 today. I’m sorry for missing this last year. I was…it’s complicated. I had to fake my death to be an inside man for Bruce. You know how that goes.”

Dick laughed a little, brushing off a tear and cursing under his breath. “Shit. I’m sorry, I can’t stand doin’ this. Crying, I mean. I miss you callin’ me your little robin, Ma. And Dad, I miss your laugh and your smile and how you always seemed to know what to do.”

“Mar'i reminds me of you, Ma. Headstrong, beautiful. She’s an amazing kid. You know, we formed the Titans again. Me, Donna, Garth, Lil, and Roy. We have a tower in Manhattan. It’s kinda like the one.”

Dick knelt down and placed a hand on the gravestone with his parent’s names. There were so many times that he could’ve actually been beside them. Whether it was as Robin, Agent 37, or Nightwing, he had his brush with the other side plenty of times. 

“I could’ve died with you guys but I’m still here. To be honest, I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or not. But people need me. I think Bludhaven needs me. I guess we’ll see whether me being alive is a mistake. Love you. See you when I see you.”  


**Author's Note:**

> It's been way too long. And I know this promise may not mean much but I swear, that chapter of secret avengers is coming soon. Stay alert!


End file.
